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The Conference is one of North America's top educational opportunities for solar energy professionals offering hundreds of classes and sessions as well as an exhibit hall with around 200 exhibiting companies.

Tradeshow Report - The ASES National Solar Convention

The ASES National Solar Convention took place between May 18th and the 22nd in Phoenix, Arizona. The Conference is one of North America’s top educational opportunities for solar energy professionals offering hundreds of classes and sessions as well as an exhibit hall with around 200 exhibiting companies.

For myself, when I visit a tradeshow like this, I am most interested in getting onto the show floor and speaking with the people manning the booths. The information you can gather here is a great indicator of the success of the show and also the state and trends of the industry.

An exciting trend that kept emerging at this years show is the great strides companies have been making in efforts to make products more “user friendly” for both the system designer / installer and the end user. Ease of installation will help the installers to lower costs and installation time which will help to further expand the Solar market to the mainstream.

While walking the show floor I had a chance to visit with a variety of companies and see some of these new and exciting products and services they were featuring. Here are just a few:

More than 250,000 customers around the world rely on Schneider Electric Xantrex inverters and system components to bring them electricity every day. The new three-phase Xantrex GT30 Grid Tie Solar Inverter is a 30 kW high-performance inverter that makes utility-interactive installations easier and more cost effective. It offers superior PV energy harvest, easy installation, greater reliability and a compact, ultra-lightweight design. The Xantrex GT30 supports 120/208 Vac three phase power right out of the box and can be used as a building block for larger systems. The inverter weighs only 165 pounds (75 kilograms) and includes a wall mount bracket.

The Rayport AET-430 is the first and only Stainless Steel PV roof mounting system available in the US and Canada. The Rayport is wind-tunnel tested to 120mph and has provisions for direct mount to the roof. Integrated grounding clips and fasteners, along with only 3 part numbers to order contribute to industry-leading assembly times. Rayport fits most framed PV panels along with many frameless panels. Panels are aligned in landscape at a 10 degree tilt and also include EPDM rubber feet under each tray.

Since 1937 CITEL, Inc. has been specializing in the manufacturing of reliable Surge Protection Devices (SPD). CITEL has since expanded its surge protector lines to protect Grid-Tie Solar Power Systems. CITEL's DS50PV is surge rated at 40kA 8/20us, and engineered to protect against indirect lightning, AC utility grid surges, and internally generated switching transients. CITEL model DS60PV is a Heavy Duty DC surge protector, rated to withstand a direct lightning strike (10/350us waveform) as defined by ANSI/IEEE C62.41-2002 and IEC 61643-11. It is typically installed at the DC input to the inverter of a solar power system. These din rail mount devices can be integrated into a PV combiner box or standalone enclosure. CITEL is also pleased to announce model DS50PV as the first UL recognized DC Surge Protector with replaceable modules.

The dual container construction and high-density polyethylene material maximizes durability and eliminates acid leaks even if the outer container ruptures. The unique "resistox" plate design offers more resistance to corrosion and maximizes the life of the battery. The life expectancy of Rolls batteries are amongst the longest in the industry.

Caleffi Solar
A multi-functional temperature differential controller with add-on system functions, the iSolar series can be used for a wide variety of applications and has inputs for four PT1000 sensors. Preset factory defaults are defined for control of a standard solar water heating system with a second relay (some models) to divert any surplus heat. The auxiliary relay can be used to maintain the tank temperature, protect the system from overheating, or use another source to heat the storage tank. This controller features a large Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) user interface with three function keys. The easy-to-use icons assist to operate and customize a solar heating system.

EcoFasten Solar is proud to present Green-Fasten, the newest addition to our line of watertight roof attachment points. Green-Fasten provides a direct lag bolt connection for all types of roof mounted devices, from satellite dishes to solar panels. Designed for use on composition shingles, but with applications on almost every roof type, Green-Fasten can be easily retrofitted on existing roofs or installed with a new roof. The optional compression plate and hanger bolt allow for the use of proprietary mounting hardware, and the straightforward approach makes this easier than ever.

PV*SOL gridcon is a program for the design and simulation of grid connected photovoltaic systems. With PV*SOL gridcon, the most commonly-used system configurations can be optimized for efficient system design.

This dynamic simulation program has been developed for engineers, planners, roofing specialists and electrical engineering or building technicians.

You can create your system using a wide range of modules and the program helps you to determine the size of the system with the roof layout facility. After testing all the relevant physical parameters, the program shows you the right inverter and PV array configuration.

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